The present invention relates to electronic communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a communication network system that utilizes additional network connections when necessary to increase bandwidth.
Many networks exist to carry data having various bandwidth requirements. One such network is a global internetwork of networks known as the “Internet”. In the early days of networking, data was usually in the form of text and small data sets. The transfer of large, megabyte data sets was known, but typically such large data sets were few and far between and their recipient was content with receiving the data set over a long period of time if the network bandwidth was such that the transmission would take a long period of time.
In the current environment, with the explosion in popularity of networking for entertainment, commerce and other new uses (as well as the old uses), many users expect to get large bandwidth data sets and they expect to get it in real-time, or near real-time.
Data transmission may be guaranteed for Quality of Service (QOS). One way to be able to guarantee QOS is to lease an entire line connecting two locations or lease a certain amount of bandwidth of a line. This in effect guarantees that the bandwidth in a leased line or the amount of leased bandwidth will be available for transmission at all times enabling the user to guarantee a certain average data transmission rate and guarantee QOS. Other ways of putting priority include the, so called, ‘diff serve’ capability where each packet in the network is given a priority of transmission. This process however does not guarantee transmission on time, only that the higher priority data packets will reach their destinations faster than the lower priority packets.
Sometimes sustained data rates higher than what the QOS-guaranteed connection can support is needed. Often non-QOS guaranteed connections exist between a transmitting and a receiving center that can be used in conjunction with the QOS guaranteed network connection according to the current invention to increase sustained data rates.